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Shanghai Courts Aiming to Be "Preferred Seat" for International Shipping Litigation - China Legal News

Sat, 16 Jan 2021
Categories: China Legal Trends

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In Deceber 2020, Shanghai High People's Court held a press conference to release the Bulletin on the Services of Shanghai Courts for Guaranteeing the Construction of Shanghai International Shipping Center (2018-2020). 

On 21 Dec. 2020, Shanghai High People's Court held a press conference to release the Bulletin on the Services of Shanghai Courts for Guaranteeing the Construction of Shanghai International Shipping Center (2018-2020) (上海法院服务保障上海国际航运中心建设工作情况通报(2018-2020)) (hereinafter referred to as the "White Paper"). This is the seventh in a series of press conferences held by Shanghai courts to promote high-quality judicial development.

According to statistics, from 2018 to 2020 (the 2020 statistics are as of October), Shanghai courts have accepted 14,632 cases of first instance concerning shipping-related civil and commercial matters, and have concluded 14,298 cases in total, among which, the most cases (7,494 cases) are disputes over the freight forwarding contract for the sea or the sea-connected waters, accounting for 51.22%; the other cases with a larger number are disputes over the contract for the carriage of goods by sea or sea-connected waters, contract for the carriage of goods by road, warehousing contract and so on.

The White Paper also publishes six typical cases, covering criminal, civil and commercial, maritime and other types of cases handled by the people's courts according to law. The six cases have representative legal issues as well as influential and typical judgments, which are mainly reflected in combating criminal crimes in the shipping field, leading to regulate the market behaviors of shipping subjects, ascertaining and applying foreign laws, supporting the shipping arbitration in accordance of the law and thus indicating Shanghai courts’ efforts to be the "preferred seat" for international shipping litigation.

Contributors: Yanru Chen 陈彦茹

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